After the San Francisco 49ers made a huge effort to upgrade their receiving unit this offseason by signing Randy Moss and Mario Manningham and drafting wide receiver A.J. Jenkins in the first round, perhaps Jim Harbaugh felt the need to show some love to starter Michael Crabtree.

But Harbaugh seemed to lose perspective for a minute when he unleashed this eyebrow-raising observation on KNBR-680 (via CSNBayArea.com): “Crab’s got the best hands I’ve ever seen on a wide receiver.”

Crabtree has good hands and led the team with 72 receptions last season, but nobody has compared him with the all-time greats before.

And as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com pointed out, Harbaugh has been around a few of the all-time greats. He played with a young Marvin Harrison in Indianapolis and was on the Oakland Raiders’ coaching staff for two years while Jerry Rice and Tim Brown played there.

But Harbaugh has proved to be a master motivator, and it can be assumed he is doing a little motivating/boosting of Crabtree after the 49ers’ receiving corps came under fire in the playoffs and the team pointed blame that direction by making its big upgrade effort.